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| Our commitment to biodynamic agriculture |
| What is biodynamic agriculture?
First organic agriculture, biodynamic agriculture produces healthy and nutritious food. It is based on a holistic approach which gives priority to taking care of soil and living species and which aims at stimulating soil life.
Biodynamic agriculture was born in the 1920’s. Farmers were concerned about the consequences on animal fertility and soil caused by the use of chemical products and mechanized farming methods.
Biodynamic agriculture takes into account the existing relations between all natural elements: earth, soil, animals, plants, minerals, the sun, the moon, planets and stars...
Nowadays, an increasing number of wine growers, fruit and vegetable growers and livestock farms have decided to focus on biodynamic agriculture in order to enhance life in soils due to overexploitation and depletion of farmland.
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Demeter, a symbol for biodynamic agriculture and a controlled label
Name of the Greek goddess who looked after wheat, Demeter has been the brand for products from biodynamic agriculture since 1932.
In order to get this label we have to comply with the list of specifications of organic agriculture and then go through a complementary conversion period towards biodynamic agriculture.
Presently the Demeter International association has members in about fifty countries. In France, biodynamic agriculture accounts for 1% of organic agriculture (against 10% in Germany) and approximately 200 growers use this farming method.
The golden rules of biodynamic agriculture
For the natural environment, biodynamic agriculture consists in a moderate exploitation of soil, no chemical products, good weeding practices, long-term crop rotations in order to let the soil rest (leaving it fallow). For animals, it is based on animals’ well-being as well as their reproductive cycle, forbidding the use of antibiotics, etc.
On all these criteria, both biodynamic and organic agriculture are similar. However, if organic practices take great care in preserving the natural environment, biodynamic practices do the utmost to heal it.
Thus, biodynamic agriculture considers farm as a living organism the elements of which would be animals (cows, sheep, hens and also bees) and plants (meadows and fields, trees and vegetables). It aims at achieving an adapted and self-reliant balance within the farm, with animals enriching plant life (via compost) and plant species feeding animals (cereals and forage).
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